<p>I am a freshman voice major this year at Northwestern and absolutely love it...someone had commented on not being impressed by the vocal performance program here, but I'm am constantly impressed by the amount of talent and the great teachers here. An NU student was one of 5 winner of the Met National Auditions this year....so I wouldn't put NU out the running. Also, Northwestern is very good about recognizing talent and making sure advanced students are getting enough attention. NU is also a great school for students who might not want a conservatory setting or friends who are ALL music majors. You can get a great overall education here and it's a great setting...suburb of Chicago with a private beach...beautiful</p>
<p>i HIGHLY suggest northwestern. HIGHLY.</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Boston Conservatory and the Hartt school of music and do not know which one to pick. can anyone help me? (i also dont know how to start a new topic which is why i attached my question to this one. can anyone help me?)</p>
<p>HAs your daughter had the chance to take a "sample lesson" from any of the teachers at the schools she is seriously considering?I've heard some horror stories about McGill-very cutthroat and not as "friendly" as some of the other undergrads and there is a great deal of rivalry between studios. BOCO tends to be more MT oriented. As for SUNY Purchase- well, your daughter had better enjoy concrete and cold because those are the two most outsnading features there! That being said, my D has said that kids in the vocal program really like it and if you land with the right teacher it can be a great experience. Your daughter sounds very talented and has been accepted at some great places, and if it was my D, the choices from that group would be Peabody or Oberlin.</p>
<p>My daughter got into these programs for vocal performance (soprano).
We are waiting to hear from Michigan (but the fact that we haven't heard yet makes me pessimistic).
What do you all think? She wants to double major in English too (I don't know how realistic that is).</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, letters have gone out from Michigan already, but were you told that she might be on their wait list? At this point, I don't think it would hurt to call the school. WAS she
I know a music applicant who was accepted at CMU for English(couldn't get in for voice), but what is her reason for wanting the double major- is it for music ed?</p>
<p>I found out from Michigan today that they are still reviewing some NYC regional audition tapes. It is very late for this.</p>
<p>My daughter can't decide between singing and English so she was hoping to do both. I assume it will mean more than 4 years.</p>
<p>OK, that would explain it as the people we know are in upstate NY and actually auditioned at the school.
Now you've got me really curious- the music I can understand, but what would your D plan on doing with an English degree, or is she going to take education courses also and teach?</p>
<p>I'm a student @ McGill, and I have never found any competition to be cut-throat or intense here! In fact, of all the schools I looked at I found McGill to be the least political and most welcoming (faculty and students!). There is no rivalry between studios, lots of collaboration on the contrary, and people are extremely friendly... come on it's Canada!</p>
<p>My D is a hs junior who wants to consider a vocal performance and theatre double major rather than Musical Theatre. Do any of you have recommendations of schools that are strong in these two areas? Or schools that either have an established curriculum for VP and theatre (drama) combined or allow sufficient flexibility in their programs to allow someone to major in both areas?</p>
<p>henrob - I have a vague memory of meeting someone with this kind of double major, and can't remember which school tour we were on! I'm pretty sure it was either Furman (SC) or Miami-Ohio! At both these schools, doubling with a music performance degree is possible with most other majors. I was especially impressed with Furman's music program (Keith Lockhart is an alum, as is Betsy Bishop.) A quick look at their website says they have theater and opera - not finding much by way of musical theater, though.</p>
<p>Do you have a size of school, or area of the country that you are specifically interested in?</p>
<p>NYU Steinhardt and Michigan too!</p>
<p>Binx - D has strong interest in musical theatre, but currently is interested in developing her voice as far as possible. She also sees herself one day as a hs drama teacher. So theatre and opera is something to consider.</p>
<p>We live in GA, but for MT we looked at Shenandoah, OKCU, Baldwin-Wallace. Some or all of those schools we will continue to consider, but her focus shift is causing some reevaluation and broadening the search. </p>
<p>The only school I have seen that talks about it's voice/theatre double major is The University of Kansas. But that is a very large school, and I have no info on the quality of the program. </p>
<p>She does not care to go to the NE, but mid-west and SE is fine. I prefer her not to go to the west coast, just due to distance. She goes to a huge hs so she tends to consider smaller schools such as those I mentioned above.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's input and advice. CC is a very valuable source.</p>
<p>Henrob,</p>
<p>Since your D is talking about doing a voice/theatre double major, I'd suggest sticking with MT programs that offer a BM degree in MT. Schools that offer a balanced MT curriculum - in my book that means having a balance of music, drama, and dance courses - will require that your D take 8 semesters of private voice lessons, courses in music theory, piano, and sight-singing, and several acting courses. The MT degree is designed to train students as singing actors.</p>
<p>I believe it would be possible for your D to do a BA music/BA theatre double major at many institutions. I believe that doing a vocal performance degree with a theatre double major would be much more difficult. It would probably not be possible for your D to complete her coursework in 4 years. A BM degree in vocal performance does not leave much room for electives. If your D is interested in getting a teaching certificate, the list of required courses becomes even more proscribed. State departments of education strictly mandate which liberal studies courses must be taken to satisfy their requirements and also mandate many of the courses in the prospective teacher's area of specialization. Many music education majors in my state find it very difficult to complete the state requirements (including many observation hours in the classroom and student teaching) in a 4 year time frame. It is not unusual for them to spend 5 years earning their degrees.</p>
<p>It sounds to me that your real concern is that your D will not receive adequate vocal training if she does an MT degree. If she attends any of the MT schools you listed, your D will be studying both classical vocal literature and MT literature in her lessons. If your D does a degree in voice, she will, naturally, only work on classical vocal literature. At most music schools, vocal performance majors take voice lessons for 3 hours credit each semester; MT majors typically take voice lessons for 2 hours credit, as do music education majors, and BA music majors. In all cases, students take a one hour private voice lesson each week. The difference in credit hours is supposed to reflect the difference in required daily practice time from the students. Many voice students who take private lessons for 2 hours credit choose to practice just as much as students taking lessons for 3 hours credit. There are physical limits as to how much practicing a singer can do each day. An instrumental performance major at a conservatory might put in 5 hours a day. A singer cannot do that.</p>
<p>I am going to suggest a few other MT programs for you to look into. Florida State and the U. of Miami (FL) allow MT students to choose between earning a BM degree or a BFA. I have outlined the differences in the course requirements for the two degrees at FSU on the Florida State forum at the top of the MT page here at CC. Basically, BM students take more courses in music theory and history and BFA students take more courses in theatre history and technical theatre. At FSU, MT students in both tracks study with the same voice teachers for the same number of credit hours. Students in both tracks learn both classical vocal literature and MT vocal literature every semester. That's true in many MT programs - not just BM MT programs. </p>
<p>If your D wants an MT program with more emphasis in music history and theory courses and more vocal ensemble work, she would be happiest at a school that offers a BM degree rather than a BFA. However, if what she's really concerned about is the material studied with her private voice teacher, many BFA programs would also fit the bill. I would urge your D to take a look at the curricula of schools that might be of interest. She might find that there are several schools that fit her requirements. </p>
<p>One final suggestion. You might ask on the MT forum about which schools have students study classical vocal literature every semester. I believe that many BFA programs do this. However, I don't want to list any school in error. I can tell you that CCM BFA MT students study with the same voice teachers as the vocal performance majors. I am fairly certain that classical vocal literature is included in their voice lessons.</p>
<p>Dancersmom,</p>
<p>Thank you for some very insightful advice. You reaffirmed some of my thoughts as well as gave me some different viewpoints. </p>
<p>Again, this website is extremely valuable. Thanks to all contributors.</p>
<p>I noticed something interesting about the three leads in Phantom of the Opera that was on tour this past summer (2007). Phantom was a straight theatre major with a private voice teacher on the side, Christine was a voice major at a Conservatory, and Raul the tenor was a MT major at a state university which is oftened mentioned here. I think there are many paths in this profession.</p>
<p>You are correct classical, there are many paths. You can look at a broadway playbill and see people with degrees in all kinds of fields. There are some areas that probably have to have training such as opera. If the above poster is interested in voice and theater they might want to consider a school like OCU, MT majors have the same voice facuty as the VP majors, very classically based for all, plus all of the other goodies, dance, intense acting, piano, 4 years of theory, ect.</p>